Xbox May be the New Idiot Box

Already breezed through your downloaded episodes of Babylon 5 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force? Microsoft and Safran Digital may soon have something for you, the torrent-less, action and comedy-loving consumer.
The technology powerhouse and newly created media distributor (subsidiary of The Safran Company) announced last week their decision to team up and put original short-form content in front of the over nine million players on Xbox Live. Although founder Peter Safran doesn’t have the most illustrious titles under his belt, he has high hopes for the future Xbox bites, claiming that the platform has the “exact same demographic” their ideas cater towards. Namely, young males with relatively short attention spans (each piece will wrap at about ten minutes, not much longer than the average timed Halo match). The “talent” in the shows, although nameless as of yet, will appeal to this same demographic. (Though that seems to indicate hawt chix0rz will be ample, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Michael Cera make another appearance in addition to the Clark and Michael episodes already available.)
Among many other unanswered questions lies one of the most decisive: will these original, Xbox-tailored show bits be free to download? If not, Safran may find another Meet the Spartans on his hands. Xbox Live players already have plenty of supplemental material to drop Microsoft Points on, from new CoD4 maps to “Still Alive” for Rock Band to any of the classic arcade games and other videos available. And all of these maintain a newness and replayability that a ten minute video which may show up on YouTube within a few months (the shows will be available elsewhere after a certain “window of exclusivity” on the Xbox) does not.
On the other hand, potentially free, scripted, and Xbox-specific shows sound quite promising. A nice way to relax after a long day of tossing grenades and rocking faces. We’ll find out this summer.